n. In early wireless telegraphs, a device used to shake loose the filings of a coherer.
n. The lesser spotted woodpecker.
the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
n. The lesser spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopus minor); -- called also tapperer, tabberer, little wood pie, barred woodpecker, wood tapper, hickwall, and pump borer.
The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
n. A hammer for striking a bell or chime.
n. A device for restoring a coherer to its normal resistance, after this has been affected by electric oscillations, by means of a series of slight mechanical shocks.
n. One who or that which operates a screw-cutting tap for threading holes.
n. One who taps or draws liquor; a tapster; specifically, an innkeeper.
n. One who or that which taps or strikes.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
n. someone who wiretaps a telephone or telegraph wire
n. a dancer who sounds out rhythms by using metal taps on the toes and heels of the shoes
n. a tavern keeper who taps kegs or casks
n. a person who strikes a surface lightly and usually repeatedly
n. a worker who uses a tap to cut screw threads
Word Usage
"But the thing was, the tapper was the kind of person who would complain, who might call the owners and make trouble for Clarice."